From January through July, some 395,000 have visited Meijer Gardens, which opened the exhibition of 15 glass sculptures by Chihuly on April 30. A little more than half are from the West Michigan region, but tourists have visited from most U.S. states.

"We've also had visitors from China, from Germany, from Japan, South Korea, Slovenia and England," said Joseph Becherer, chief curator and vice president for collections and exhibitions.

Meijer Gardens reported 504,488 visitors last year, and Hooker expects to do even better in 2010.

"By the end of August, we'll probably be over 450,000, and in our Christmas exhibition alone, we usually get 75,000 at least," he said. "That doesn't count anything in September and October.

But Becherer hopes the opportunity to see Chihuly's "Blue Polyvitro Crystals" floating in the wetlands or "Niijima Floats" resting in the water and on the rocks of the Sculpture Park waterfall will attract repeat visitors as well as new visitors during the colorful Michigan fall.

"It's been a remarkable spring and summer, and we're overjoyed that we'll be able to extend this into the fall," Becherer said.

Meijer Gardens' best year for attendance topped 550,000 in 2004, the year that its Lena Meijer Children's Garden opened.

Attendance figures include all visits.

While organizers assume many have come to see Chihuly's site-specific installations, they speculate visitors from further away are as likely to have come to see the park's permanent collection or to view the gardens itself.

Chihuly, who is based in Seattle, is scheduled to visit Meijer Gardens in early September, his first visit since "A New Eden" opened, for a lecture on Sept. 8.

The talk is open free to all Meijer Gardens members, number more than 19,500, according to the latest figures.

"We have 1,200 seats," Hooker said. "And last I checked, the waiting list was still over 700."